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Gathering of the Green coming in March! Get ready!

If you love John Deere tractors, memorabilia, tours etc. mark your calendar and start planning to attend the 2016 Gathering of the Green. The show only comes around once every two years and it goes by like a flash of lightening. Now is the time to secure hotel rooms, register for the show and tours.

We love attending this show held in the middle of March. It is right before spring planting, just after the worst of winter and I think all collectors or lovers of agricultural history are ready for a day out. Davenport where the show is located offers a lot of wonderful museums and brew pubs that also add if you are looking for a family trip. The city has some wonderful art stops that fill the cultural side I long for.

The show is scheduled March 16, 17, 18 & 19, 2016 and will be located at the River Center in Davenport, Iowa. Ken Reese of the Gathering of the Green said, “This will be the 9th conference, and this year’s theme is “Forge to Farm” for 2016.”

Besides being just plain fun, the show is an educational one if you choose to attend any of the 60 technical and historical workshops led by the best in the hobby. There is also a huge vendor area that will offer 70 plus vendors offering everything from art to tires, old parts to NOS parts to reproduction parts, clothing to restoration services and decals to memorabilia.

My favorite part of this show is that they also offer tours. There will be 16 tours to John Deere factories, tractor collections and ag-related destinations. The wonderful Don McKinley, a former educator and the owner (along with his son-in-law) of the 1930’s Depression Era museum in Quincy, IL will offer an evening presentation on Thursday titled “From Clamshells to Space”.

Don knows almost anything you could want to know about John Deere and agriculture in general. There will also be a Friday Fun Auction and Saturday evening banquet with keynote speaker Dr. Jerry Apps.

During 2014 2350 people attended the last conference. Attendees hailed from 35 states in the USA, 40 from Canada, 7 from Australia and 2 from the UK.